Trent Baskerville is a Research Associate. He has an extensive background in qualitative analysis, data collection, community outreach, and information synthesis in criminal justice, inequality, and violence prevention. His research covers a diverse background that provides him with an in-depth understanding of the juvenile and adult justice system, school safety, violence prevention, and public health implications. Prior to joining WestEd, Baskerville served 10 years in the United States Army, including multiple tours in Afghanistan. During his tenure, he received various awards for his academic achievements: Commandants List, Basic Leaders Course (2016); Distinguished Leadership Awardee, Advanced Leaders Course (2016); and Commandants List, Recruiting and Retention College (2018). Baskerville graduated summa cum laude with his BA in political science with a concentration in international relations from American Military University. He also holds a master of public policy from the University of California, Riverside, School of Public Policy.

Sarah Russo is a Research Associate. Ms. Russo leads and conducts a variety of research and program and evaluation activities in the areas of justice, education, and healthy communities. Responsibilities include but are not limited to project management, qualitative and quantitative data collection, data analysis, and reporting. Her projects include evaluations of teen pregnancy prevention and other initiatives for justice-involved youth, programs addressing human trafficking among transition-aged youth, training for law enforcement investigating technology-facilitated crimes against children, and state school safety centers. Prior to her work at WestEd, Ms. Russo served as the lead data analyst for the Community-Based Crime Reduction grant initiative in Los Angeles to develop violent crime prevention and reduction strategies in MacArthur Park. Ms. Russo earned a BA in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Andre’ Spence is a School Safety Technical Assistance Specialist at WestEd. Prior to WestEd, he served as a School Safety Readiness Program Manager at the Texas School Safety Center where he provided oversight on center operations related to resource development and technical assistance pertaining to school safety and security audits and emergency management procedures for school districts in Texas. Spence led several state-wide initiatives which included the establishment of the Texas School Safety and Security Consultant Registry. Additionally, He has held leadership positions for various state/government entities with regulatory oversight in the state of Texas which included the Department of Family and Protective Services and the Office of Inspector General.

With 20 years of progressive leadership and expertise in operational efficiency and regulatory oversight, Spence brings a wealth of experience in conducting physical security and compliance audits across educational settings. He holds a Doctoral degree in Administration of Justice from Texas Southern University, complemented by a MS in Family and Child Studies from Texas State University and a BS in Psychology/Criminal Justice from Prairie View A&M University.

Alexis Stern is a Research Associate. She contributes to research and evaluation projects in areas including juvenile justice reform, school climate, and public health. Her work at WestEd has included supporting a case study of a juvenile justice youth advisory council, a report on school climate and suspensions in California schools, and an evaluation of a framework for school-based law enforcement in Texas. Stern received a master’s degree in urban education policy from Brown University.

Hannah Sutherland is a Research Associate. Sutherland’s responsibilities include various research and evaluation tasks for studies within the areas of justice, public health, and education—including qualitative data collection, survey development and implementation, data analysis, and reporting. These studies focus on violence prevention, drug and alcohol prevention, adult recidivism reduction, school safety, disconnected youth, restorative justice, teen pregnancy prevention, juvenile drug courts, and other programs protecting at-risk youth. She received a BA with double majors in psychology and political science from Westfield State University and an MS in criminal justice from Salem State University.

Justine Zimiles is a Research Associate. Her work focuses on program evaluation activities, including coordinating data collection, developing data management systems, online survey administration, statistical analysis, and report writing. Zimiles’s current projects relate to juvenile justice prevention, victims of human trafficking, and health equity technical assistance. Before joining WestEd, she worked in a mental health research setting and taught statistics and English as a foreign language. She received a BA in psychology from the University of Rochester, New York and a master’s degree in applied psychology from San Diego State University.